Because I Can't Live Without You
by fat1236
Summary: Draco follows Amy and watches her singing and dancing. As she pours out her feelings through dance he finds out everything thats wrong in her life and tries to help and protect her. As well as letting her know his feelings.
1. Star

A/N: this is written during Order of The Phoenix. Cedric Diggory never died, he's in the same year as Harry and everyone and instead of them being 15 they're 17.

Amy loved to perform. Before coming to Hogwarts she had taken dance lessons in tap, modern, ballet, jazz and street dance as well as a few singing lessons. She'd loved her dance lessons, but she'd found the singing lessons too strict, she just liked to sing whatever she felt like at that moment, so she quit and sung as she pleased.

Now she was in her 7th year at Hogwarts and although she missed her dance lessons, she was still dancing in her free time or whenever her emotions were running high and she needed to express herself through song and dance. She never let anyone see or hear her, afraid that they would laugh, especially as she used muggle music! She thought the Weird Sisters were just...weird! She loved Beyoncé, Trey Songz, Rihanna, Taio Cruz and Tinchy Stryder, artists that her emo friends back home called "chav" but who cared when they had songs that were so good to dance to?

****

Amy sighed and looked at the clock again. It was 3:30am and she couldn't sleep. They'd only been back 4 weeks and she'd already seen her "boyfriend" Cedric Diggory with Cho Chang. The girl hated Amy. Cedric had told Cho that Amy was a shit, worthless girlfriend and now Cho was frequently telling anybody who'd listen about what Amy was REALLY like. According to Cho she slept with anyone who'd have her, she was a rubbish girlfriend and that boys didn't go for her for her looks. After all she had none. They went for her because she was easy. She looked and acted it. According to Cho.

Amy could feel her anger at the girl building up, but she soon realised that this wasn't healthy and she shouldn't be getting heated up about someone as obviously emotionally unstable as Cho, but her anger only turned to sadness. After all there's only so much back stabbing a girl can take in one month.

As the tears threatened to overspill, she realised she needed one of her dance sessions, so quietly dressing in her red halter-neck leotard and black sweats which she rolled up to the knees, she gathered her ipod and loud speakers and left the Gryffindor girls dormitory.

She warily walked around each corner, keeping a look out for anyone. She had never come across anyone yet, but she was always on her guard. However she didn't notice someone else who was on their guard. A shadow detached itself from the wall a few metres behind her and padded silently after her.

Amy shivered as she neared the Great Hall. She felt she was being watched and as she reached the halls main entrance she looked around to make sure no-one would see her going in. Unfortunately, it's hard to see black on black and she failed to notice the person standing to her right.

She quietly opened the door and as it was swinging shut, the shadow slipped through it and hid among the tables around the edge of the hall.

Amy switched on the lights and having checked the door was firmly shut, she turned on her battery run loudspeakers and ipod.

Normally Amy could cope with someone like Cho, but she couldn't cope when Cedric was cheating on her. With Cho. Yesterday morning when she had broached the subject with him, he'd shoved her against the wall, his large hands gripping her slim upper arms so hard that she had bruises there now.

"You will stay as my girlfriend until I choose otherwise, or you'll end up in St Mungo's with more than bruises on your arms and I'll tell everyone about your little dancing dream, then the wizarding world will laugh at you" he had hissed at her maliciously before releasing her and walking away as she stood there in shock.

At the memory she unconsciously crossed her arms over her body and used her hands to cover the bruises there. Her hands weren't big enough to cover then completely but she felt better when they were covered and she stood there a moment, shoulders curved in as though she was protecting herself.

She suddenly moved and as usual, she put on music that reflected her mood.

Selecting "Can't Help But Wait" by Trey Songz she free-styled to the sad song. She used modern, jazz and street moves, creating her own dance that expressed her emotions.

She rolled her hips and shoulders, slid to the floor in the splits, flicked her long, dark brown hair so that it fanned around her beautifully, did hundreds of pirouettes and jumps, feeling better as she let her emotions out, but worse at the same time. She imagined some mysterious boy would come along and make her get over Cedric. That he'd tell her she wasn't worthless and make everything right again.

She didn't notice the head stuck out between the tables watching her petite figure as she lost herself in the dance. At 5ft 4 and a size 8, she had a curvy figure most girls envied.

Towards the end of the song, she burst out in time with the Trey "_Baby girl you are a star_" in her sweet voice, her dance stopped and she stood there a few seconds before sinking to her knees, her head in her hands as tears leaked through her fingers.

She didn't notice a tall figure with blonde hair sneak out, back through the door.

A/N: Sorry not much Draco action here...he does come into it later I promise. And you've probably guessed that he's the one watching her. Please review and rate and everything. I'm not used to writing stories yet so any advice anyone has would be gladly accepted 


	2. Fascinated

The next morning Draco Malfoy sat down at the Slytherin Table and immediately scanned the Gryffindor one, and it wasn't so that he could laugh at The Golden Trio.

He greeted Blaise and ate some toast slowly until he saw her rushing in towards the end of breakfast.

She looked just as good as she had yesterday, only more tired and not in tears. Her clothes clung to her curvy figure in a way that suggested they were specially brought and tailored for her form, when in actual fact they were just normal clothes and she was lucky enough for them to cling to her in all the right places.

She settled down next to Lavender Brown and sleepily replied to her friends greeting as she grabbed an apple.

He watched her throughout the rest of breakfast, she ate daintily; it never ceased to amaze him that it was in fact possible to eat in a cute way.

Parvarti Patil stood up quickly and grabbed Amy's upper arm to pull her friend along. Draco watched her barely conceal a wince as she bit her lip and he winced quietly with her as he pictured the bruises from last night.

Diggory had left bruises that were almost the exact shape of his hands Draco remembered as he watched the three girls run from the hall.

He realised that someone had asked him something and that all of his friends were staring at him.

"See you later he muttered" at them and turned to go, but first he heard-

"Wait for me Drakie" called Pansy in her sickly sweet voice, if you could see her voice Draco thought, it'd be covered in pink frills and lace.

"Oh Christ" he groaned and he practically ran from the hall before hiding in the first boys toilets he came to.

A/N: Sorry this is a short one, I'm working on a third chapter now though 


	3. No Other

A month later and Amy had more troubles. As well as fresh bruises on her upper arms one of her friends from her muggle circle had died. She'd attended the funeral, cried alongside her friends and returned that night with red eyes. Few had missed her puffy red eyes the next few weeks and even Cho had laid of her. She'd been back to the hall at night two more times, and each time Draco had followed her and slipped away without her noticing.

Now, she sat in a dim corner in the library, a book open in front of her but she was staring straight ahead, thinking instead about her situation and her loss. She'd stopped crying a week ago and was trying to act strong.

"Hi"

The voice wasn't loud but really close. She hadn't heard or seen anyone come over and they surprised her, nearly making her drop the book.

She looked up at Harry.

"Oh hi" she smiled weakly, overcoming her surprise and fear. For a moment she had thought it was Cedric.

"I'm going to guess Potions is really interesting from the way you were staring into space" laughed Harry, gesturing to the book.

"Oh...yeah" she laughed, she hadn't realised it had been about potions.

"I just wanted you to know...I'm sorry for your loss. You were obviously very close with the boy" he said sincerely.

"Oh....well...thank you" she said with a sad smile.

Harry's face turned hard. "What do you want Malfoy?" she spat over Amy's head.

Amy twisted her body to look behind her.

"Nothing that you have Potter" he spat back. "I already have everything you could ever hope for".

He turned from Harry as though his sight repulsed him, however Amy was the only other thing his gaze could fall on, and she found herself staring up into a pair of grey eyes that were like no colour she had ever seen before.

A/N : Sorry about the short chapters everyone! Please R&R!


	4. Exotic

Draco found himself staring into hazel eyes that were tinted blue around the edge. He'd been fascinated by her for months, but he'd never got close enough to look at her face in detail. She had a round face framed by layered long dark brown hair that was naturally straight. He knew that her mother was European and her father Chinese, however she looked neither of these. She looked...exotic. With her tanned skin and big almond eyes framed by some of the longest eye-lashes he had ever seen she certainly was exotic looking.

He realised he had been staring at her too long, entranced by her face.

"Don't make eyes at her Malfoy she's way out of your league" sneered Harry.

"Don't you mean your league Potter?" Draco sneered back. "After all you're the one in here with her when no-one else is around" he said suggestively, wiggling his eye-brows.

From the corner of his eye he saw Amy duck her head slightly.

Both boys had their wands out and at each others' throats milliseconds later.

Amy hastily tried to step between them. "Let's not let this get out of control ok?" she said, placing a soft hand on each of the boy's chests as she attempted to push them back.

"You know Potter, if you didn't have this nice girl here protecting you I'd make sure you weren't in anyone's league, even the Weasleys" he said with another one of his famous sneers.

"And why do you care about her Malfoy? She's only another Gryffindor?" Harry taunted him.

"That's my own business" he said, narrowing his eyes, suddenly on the defensive.

"That's enough" Amy said loudly and gave each of their chest a firm shove that she hoped would send them flying backwards but actually only made them move back a step. "If you two start something we'll all be out in detention and I really don't need that right now" she stated. "I'm going back to the common room. Are you coming Harry?" she turned towards him.

Harry cast one more, distrustful glance at Draco then nodded and grabbed her bag so that he could carry it for her.

Draco watched the two leave the library until they walked out of the door. He saw the silhouette of Amy pause and turn her head to look back at him, her hair flicked around her in a way that he recognized as she turned to look at him one last time as she walked away.


	5. Two Months

That night Amy lay awake thinking. Again.

She was thinking about Malfoy. He _had _been making eyes at her. Or rather, he'd been making eyes at her eyes. And she realised she'd been doing exactly the same back, and she couldn't get the rock hard feel of his chest out of her mind either.

Sure, Harry had muscles, but Draco's were so solid!

The way he'd _looked_ at her. With his blonde hair nearly falling in his eyes and his pale skin. She pictured him in her mind. A good 6ft tall, obviously well muscled and incredibly good looking.

"_What did he mean when he said it was his own business why he cared about me?"_ she wondered. _"He was probably just annoying Harry"_. She shrugged it off and fell back to pondering about her situation with Cho and Cedric. Cedric had grabbed her after Defence Against The Dark Arts, only this time, he'd hit her in the stomach and side.

She realised she needed a dance session but when she padded down to the hall she felt more like a singing session so she chose "Halo" by Beyoncé.

"_I bet Callum's up there right now with a Halo above his head" _she thought with another sad smile. Her smiles all seemed to be sad these days.

She pushed a table into the middle of the hall and, turning on her loudspeakers she stood on it and sang along with Beyoncé, doing all the high notes, closing her eyes and singing from her heart.

"_Everywhere I'm looking now_

_I'm surrounded by your embrace._

_Baby I can see your Halo_

_You know you're my saving grace._

_You're everything I need and more_

_It's written all over your face._

_Baby I can feel your halo_

_Pray it won't fade away._

_I can feel your halo_

_I can see your halo_

_I can feel your halo_

_I can see your halo._

Her voice trailed off and she opened her eyes. She took a few deep breaths and she jumped down from the table, but she heard a click that sounded like someone clicking their knee. She turned quickly. It wasn't her knees. Everything was silent. She set off towards the door, then veered right and walked along the tables pushed back. She walked past about 5 and then gasped as she saw a blonde head among them.

"You" she said incredulously. She turned on her heels and ran back to her ipod and loudspeakers but she didn't make it half way there before a strong, warm hand clasped around her lower arm and swung her around sharply as Draco uttered one word.

"Wait".

She gazed at him in horror "how long have you been there?" she asked, panic threatening to overtake her voice as she realised a _Slytherin _had just caught her singing her heart out on a table!

"The whole time" he said off-handedly as though it didn't matter.

Her eyes grew wider with disbelief and she tried to tug her arm free.

She looked up at his face to see him looking at her arm. She looked down and sharply drew in a breath before stepping back sharply, finally managing to pull her arm out of his grasp and using her hands to cover the bruises much like she had the first time she'd tried to hide the bruises. Only then, she was hiding them from herself.

She stared at the floor, standing there in only her red halter-neck leotard and black sweats as she shielded herself from his gaze.

She slowly looked up, only to see him looking at her, his face impassive.

I've known about what Diggory's been doing to you for a while" he stated.

Panic rose in her again. Her breathing became shallow and she suddenly burst out "It's none of your business". She rushed past him towards the door. As she reached it she turned and told him with passion, "You can't ever, ever tell anyone I come here!" before racing away.

She rounded a corner before pausing for breath. Hands gripped her bruises and she yelped in pain as she was shoved against the wall. She looked up in Cedric's eyes and her fear was evident on her face.

"What are you doing? Dressed the way you are I'm gonna guess you've been doing your pathetic dancing" he sneered. He released her, only to grab her around her neck, his grip tight enough to hurt, and constrict her breathing.

She struggled vainly, head arched back, hands scrabbling at his arm. He leered at her, seeming to enjoy her struggling. He used his other hand to hit her stomach, winding her and watching her, amusement plain on his face until shock crossed his face and he released her, clutching his own neck now. She saw a tanned arm around his neck and Harry was attached to that arm. Suddenly Ron appeared, catching Amy around her waist as she fell. He righted her and left an arm around her waist to support her and stop her falling to the ground.

"What the bloody hell is- Amy, how'd you get those bruises?" he asked in a knowing voice, his eyes widening as he took in the size of the bruises and they're exact hand shape and what she was wearing. He turned to Cedric, mouth still open but Amy had had enough. She wriggled free from his supporting arm and ran down the corridor, ignoring their shouts, her bare feet padding softly. She didn't even bother to try and be quiet; she was too panicked to bother with teachers. A few corridors away from the Gryffindor common room she stopped, panting and leaned against the wall for support before sliding down to the floor, her head in her hands as she regained her breath and thought about how bad her life was.

Harry, Ron and Malfoy knew about her being Cedric's new workout punch bag and they probably knew about her dancing as well now from the way she was dressed.

"Are you al-"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" she gave a high pitched scream in surprise and rolled to her feet, not even stopping to see who was speaking to her as she ran to the common room.

Neville blinked and turned when he heard voices.

"Harry! Ron!"

"Wooooooow! Is this seriously Neville Longbottom out after hours?"

"Shutup a sec, did you just see Amy??"

Harry and Ron exchanged glances before nodding slowly.

"Did you see the bruises on her arms?!?!"

They nodded again.

"They were almost exact handprints! They practically covered her whole arms!"

"Diggory".

"What?"

"Diggory. He's been doing it to her. We just caught him strangling her, pulled him off and she ran away from us."

Neville's eyes popped and he whirled around and walked with the two other boys back to the common room. Harry opened his mouth to say the password, but Ron stopped him.

"Wait mate. If she's in there, then I think we should try and talk to her."

Neville looked at him like he was a simpleton. "Well duh!"

"You do it Neville; she's more likely to open up to you."

Neville nodded, let out a breath and entered the portrait hole.

Amy was sitting on a sofa, staring into the fire, knees drawn up to her chest and arms wrapped round her legs tightly. The bruises stood out prominently on her tanned skin and the fire reflected of the tears on her face.

"Amy?"he said quietly.

She didn't move.

Ron and Harry each grabbed an armchair and quietly as they could moved them round so that they faced the sofa.

"Amy" Neville repeated, sitting down next to her.

She slowly looked at him, her eyes big and scared, the fire reflecting in her dilated pupils.

"How longs this been going on?"

She closed her almond eyes, making another fat tear roll down her cheek.

"Since the beginning of the year." She whispered; her voice nearly cracking towards the end as her eyes fluttered open.

The boys exchanged glances.

"Why's he doing it?"

She shook her head, closing her eyes again and openly let out a small sob before burying her head in her drawn up knees, her shoulders shaking.

Neville reached out for her, he was going to rub her arm comfortingly but he stopped in time, remembering the bruises and settled for rubbing her back.

After a while she looked up again and sniffed miserably.

"Who else knows?" he pressed gently.

"Draco" she murmured dolefully.

Ron looked confused. "Who's Dr-"

"Malfoy" Harry hissed as Amy hid her face in her knees again.

The boys exchanged another look.

"Amy, we'll talk tomorrow, I think you should sleep now."

She nodded and got up slowly, almost painfully.

"Wait a minute." Said Ron sharply. "Turn around. Let me see your back"

Amy turned, but there was nothing there. Her leotard finished slightly above the bottom of her shoulder blades and her skin was smooth and glowing in the fire light.

Ron frowned. "Now let me see your sides."

She hesitated before pulling her leotard forward slightly, towards her belly on one side.

Smooth skin.

"And the other side" she hesitated again before turning and with shaking hands pulling it forward to reveal a bruise even newer then the ones on her arms.

Ron's face set, as did Harry's and Neville's before they wished her goodnight, watching her all the way up the stairs.

Once her door had firmly shut, Neville turned to face the others, his face stony.

"So" began Harry.

A/N : Finally managed to do a longer chapter! Please R&R!


	6. If She Knew

Draco watched her retreating figure as she ran down the corridor until the door closed and blocked his view. He turned back and caught sight of her belongings that she'd forgotten to take in her panic. He crouched down and thoughtfully pressed a button, jumping back in alarm when music began to play. He listened to a few tracks that came up next on her ipod. "If She Knew" by Lemar and "Take Me Back" by Tinchy Stryder and Taio Cruz. The lyrics struck him as appropriate. After pressing a button at random the songs started playing again. He listened to the two tracks over and over until he knew certain lyrics off by heart.

"_If she knew how bad_

_I wanna make this work._

_How my heart belongs to her_

_She wouldn't be able to walk away._

_If she knew how bad_

_I gotta have her close._

_If I ever let her go_

_I wouldn't make it a single day._

_She would never have to ask if..._

_If she knew how bad."_

And

"_I'm sorry I misleaded you_

_Pretty lady._

_I'm sorry I mistreated you_

_Pretty lady._

_I'm sorry that I hurt you_

_Pretty lady._

_Girl all I need it know is, _

_Can you take me back?"_

"_How appropriate the first one is for Diggory" _he thought.

"_And how appropriate the second one is for me" _because he had mistreated her. When they had both first come to Hogwarts he'd barely noticed her, she was just another Gryffindor girl. Not a mudblood, not a pureblood. Not ugly, just normal. _"How people change"_ he mused. He didn't mock her as he did others, but he did bump into her in corridors, causing the books in her arms to fall and yet, he'd just keep walking.

He picked up her belongings, thinking about all the times he hadn't and turning out the light started the long walk back down to the Slytherin Common Room.

Creeping into his dorm that he shared with Blaise Zambini, he stashed her things in his bedside table before sighing deeply and settling down.

He went to sleep that night with her face and the song lyrics playing softly in his mind.


	7. Bodyguards

Harry, Ron and Neville approached Draco after Potions the next day.

They looked at him, faces grave.

"We need to talk" said Harry.

Draco opened his mouth to give some scathing reply but Neville butted in.

"About Amy and Diggory" he said, leaning towards him and raising his eye-brows.

"Ah. Right. Yes we do".

"I'll see you later" he muttered to astonished Crabbe and Goyle.

The four quickly walked to the nearest empty classroom and leaned against the desks, none of them comfortable with being so civil to someone they hated.

"So, you're aware of Diggory using her as a punch bag I presume" Harry started.

"How did you find out" Draco asked, looking around at them all.

They all recounted the parts of it they could remember best and once they finished, Draco told them about her dancing and how he'd seen the bruises on her arms and guessed.

"Did you know about her other bruises?" Draco looked at Ron quizzically "the ones on her side, and I suspect on her stomach now as well if the punch he gave her last night is anything to go by".

"That little fucker I'm-"

"Well this can't go on." Neville stated. "We need to do something. I don't want to go to the teachers; she's too fragile to stand them questioning her."

"I agree. I think _we_ should protect her" said Ron. "It'll be easy. We're in the same house as her so we have most lessons with her. You're with her in the other classes" he indicated Draco. "Someone can walk her to each class and to meals and one of us can tail her every time she goes somewhere alone."

The four looked at each other. Nodding.

"Sorted" said Harry happily. "right now she'll be in lunch and we'll all be there so no problems."

"Do you think we should let anyone else know?" asked Ron.

"Like who? Who else can we trust? And besides it's a private thing, I don't think Amy would want us telling half the school!"

"Yeah but what if they could help us protect her? I was thinking...we could tell Fred and George. They won't let on to her that they know, but they'll cheer her up at the same time by showing her their experiments and telling her jokes. AND...they could make Diggory's life hell!!"

"Yes!" Draco exclaimed. "That's good. With all their practical joke stuff, they could humiliate him and everything!"

"Well ok" said Harry doubtfully. "Are we going to tell anyone else? I was thinking a girl. Ginny, Hermione, Lavender?"

"No, they'll probably want to go to the teachers".

They sorted out a rota for her lessons and who'd tail her on what day.

Draco would take Mondays and Fridays.

Ron Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Harry Wednesdays and Sundays.

Neville would only take Thursdays, but he had to walk her to all her meals.

The four nodded to each other and leaving the classroom walked quickly to the Great Hall.

"This doesn't mean I like any of you" Draco muttered.

Upon entering, they got a few stares as they were all so close together when everyone knew off the hatred that ran between Draco and the three Gryffindors. The hall quietened slightly, but it was only the Slytherin table and Gryffindor table that fell silent, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw remained oblivious. The boys however didn't notice the silence; they only had eyes for Amy who was sitting at the far end of Gryffindor table, poking a tiny amount of casserole around her plate.

Draco nodded at the three before going to his own table while Ron, Harry and Neville approached her.

Amy looked up suddenly, startled as three boys thumped down around her.

Harry on her left, Ron on her right and Neville in front.

They all smiled at her and started eating vast amounts as though they sat in a formation around her every day.

Neville started glaring daggers over her shoulder at someone as he bit into a chicken drumstick and she turned quickly to see Cedric looking back levelly. She turned back around only to have Neville smile reassuringly at her, while in the background she saw that Draco appeared to have replaced him in glaring daggers over her shoulder.

So for the next few days Amy found she had three new best friends in Gryffindor and a watchdog from Slytherin. She was aware of them following her and she knew why, but she didn't let them know that she knew the reason, she just pretended to see them occasionally and start a conversation with them so they didn't have to creep after her, because so long as they were there, she felt safe.

At first she'd thought they were being very over protective, but she was grateful when she was dragged into a classroom one day by Cedric, only to have Draco burst in and give him a nose bleed before Cedric could raise his fist at her.


	8. None Of Your Business

She came back to the hall the next Tuesday, having realised she'd left her ipod and loudspeakers so she entered the hall warily. Draco was waiting for her, her things in his hand. She hadn't seen him since he'd taken her away from the classroom and back to the Gryffindor Common Room, ignoring her protests that she needed to go to the library.

She cautiously walked over and took her things from his hand.

"Thanks" she said, raising her eyes to meet his. He didn't reply; he was too busy staring into her eyes, completely lost.

They were like a drug to him. And he seemed to be taking an overdose.

He blinked and looked away quickly, blinking quickly several times more to clear his thoughts. He noticed what she was wearing instead. A black, strappy tank top with small white hearts on it, pink pyjama bottoms with red and black spots on and a pair of beige fluffy looking boots that said "Ugg" on the heel. Clearly not from the wizarding world.

Damn he wished she'd put on some more clothes. She looked incredibly good for someone in their pyjamas, her eye make-up smudged slightly, making her eyes more mysterious and her hair done up in a messy bun with strands falling out and framing her face.

"_She's shivering!"_ he realised.

He could give her his dressing gown...but he was only wearing grey sweats underneath and no shirt.

He took of his dressing gown as she stared at him incredulously.

"What are you doing" she whispered as he started to strip.

"Making you warm" he replied a he slung his dressing gown around her slim shoulders. It fell all the way down to the floor on her whereas it only fell to his knees.

"Oh...thank you, but...what about you? Won't you be cold?" she asked him, eyeing his bare chest as she spoke.

"Yes" he said in a voice that was clearly trying to hold back a laugh.

"Well then- " she started to protest and take it off but he only rolled his eyes and pulled it back around her shoulders.

She ignored the tingling feeling his touch left and put it down to her arms and shoulders being sensitive right now, thanks to the bruises.

She looked up at him and he could see the thanks in her eyes.

He was looking down at her with a smile on his face, only it was a real smile, not the smirks he normally did.

Suddenly she longed to ask him what had been on her mind the whole night.

"What did you mean when you told Harry that it was none of his business?" she asked hesitantly.

His smile faded a little. He knew exactly what she was talking about. "I meant exactly that" he stated, clearly uncomfortable. He gestured with his head. "Come on I'll walk you back". She followed him a while before he asked "How long's this thing between you and Diggory been going on?" changing the subject.

Now it was her turn to feel uncomfortable. "A few months".

"You should tell somebody".

"Like who?"

"Anybody. You'd feel better for it".

She laughed bitterly. "It's going to take more than telling someone to make me feel good again". And unfortunately, it's going to take more then you, Ron, Harry and Neville following me to protect me from him.

"I wouldn't be so sure... actually, where is your tail? Isn't Ron meant to be following you today?"

"Yeah, he was following me this time last week."

She saw him turn his head to look at her as she slipped her arms into his dressing gown. The ends of the arms fell well over her fingers and as she felt his gaze she stared down and lifted an arm to push back a strand of hair as the silk wrinkled up to her elbow.

Draco smiled slightly. But she didn't see that.

"Why do you let him treat you like that?"

"Because if I didn't he'd..." She trailed off, biting her lip.

Draco waited for her to speak.

"He'd...he'd tell everyone my dream. And then everyone would laugh at me" she said with a sigh and she flushed as she realised how ridiculous it sounded out loud.

"I see" he said. "And is your dream to sing and dance?"

"Yes" she replied, tipping her head forward to hide her face slightly.

"Why would people laugh at you for that?"

"It's not something that people do around here is it?"

"No. But nobody would laugh at you if they saw or heard you perform".

She smiled and ducked her head again at the compliment. Then her head shot back up. "Exactly how many times have you watched me?" she asked casually.

Draco smiled slightly again "Oh all the time".

She stopped walking and stared at him incredulously. Then she began to laugh. He realised that it was the first time he'd heard her laugh.

"_It suits her" _he thought as he began to laugh along with her. "I don't mean to be rude, but how did your friend die?"

Her expression became sad immediately "his name was Callum. He was helping another one of my friends. My other friend got into a fight with a man who lived nearby. He pulled a knife and started waving it around. Callum stepped in to help my friend and got...stabbed for his troubles. In the muggle world, you can die from something like that. The ambulance couldn't get there quickly enough, and he bled to death..."

They arrived outside the Gryffindor entrance and stopped walking. He handed her her belongings and said "Pumpkin" to the sleepy fat lady.

"How do you know the password?" she asked him slightly suspiciously.

He gave a cheeky grin and repeated what seemed to be his favourite phrase "None of your business".

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked. "It's like Harry said- I'm just another Gryffindor".

He paused as he considered how to answer her. Then he smiled slightly to himself, leaned towards her and whispered the lyrics to her favourite Tinchy Stryder song.

"_Because I can't live without you"_ he murmured then he was gone.


	9. Bad To Di Bone

When she next went for a dance session a week later, she took his dressing gown with her and wore it on the way to keep her warm. After all, she wasn't wearing her baggy sweat pants this time but her dance shorts that were reserved for when she needed to dance when it was hot in the summer. And it certainly wasn't hot in the castle now. She'd done her make-up, black and silver eye-shadow, mascara and eye-liner gave her the "Smokey-eyed look", she didn't realise that she normally had Smokey Eyes. She'd also put on a light layer of red lipstick to emphasis her lips.

Some people would've called her a slut for the way she looked now. She knew one girl in particular who would have a field day if she met her in the corridor, but Amy was only teasing Draco.

Her shorts were black and had a slight frill at the bottom, which only ended at the top of her thighs.

She had lain awake thinking about how he watched her every time.

"_So if I go down now, what's the betting he'll be there?"_

She reached the hall and stood there in darkness a moment, giving him time to hide if he hadn't already. She turned on the lights and taking off his dressing gown she put on "Bad To Di Bone" by Brick & Lace.

Then she proceeded to do a sexy street dance, something she hadn't done in a while. After all, she hadn't felt particularly sexy with Diggory treating her the way he was. She did body rolls and head rolls, flicking her hair around and looking towards the door with smoking eyes as she arched her back.

She finished, picked up his dressing gown with her stuff and on the way out to the door she left it on a nearby table.

"Keep it" said a deep, slightly stunned voice.

She laughed out loud as she imagined his face with the expression on it that his voice suggested, picked up the dressing gown and left, turning off the light as she went.


	10. Rubber Ducks and Gayness

Fred and George had been having loads of fun with Diggory and their practical pranks.

When Ron had approached them and told them in hushed tones, they'd been serious for the first time in months as they turned to see the petite, dark haired beauty curled up in an armchair reading a book.

"Shit!" Fred was the first to speak.

"So you're telling me that 6ft tall Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff wonder boy and Seeker, is _hitting her?_ But she's only about 5ft 3!" came George.

"Or 4" said Fred.

"Why isn't she black and blue?"

"Oh trust me she is!! On her arms, side and stomach."

"Fuckkkkkk" trailed of George.

"So you want us to play pranks on Diggory and humiliate him?"

Ron nodded.

The twins grinned at each other evilly. "Easily done lil' bro!" they said in unison, both slapping him on opposite arms, making him wince.

The next day Ron came downstairs for breakfast with Harry and stopped as he saw lots of rather...embarrassing...pictures of Cedric taking a bath lining the stairs and corridors.

Harry grinned broadly and looked at Ron.

"Take it you spoke to the twins then?"

"Ohhhhh yeah!"

"The two boys walked into the great hall and saw Amy laughing away with Fred and George, Neville watching over her carefully. It came as no surprise to see that Diggory wasn't at his table.

Harry saw tears running down her face when he looked back at the Gryffindor table and he looked at Ron in alarm, but Ron was grinning down the table still.

Harry turned back and saw that she was in fact crying with laughter as the twins recounted their story for how they'd got the pictures.

The two boys sat down on the other side of Fred and George and soon they too were bellowing with laughter as the twins started again. Amy still laughed along with them, not seeming to tire of the story as the twins told it over and over again to different people.

The day after the twins managed to sneak one of their sweets into his breakfast and he went around the whole day, not speaking at all and trying to stay away from everyone as every time he tried to say anything he instead would say, "I'm quite gay you know" in a very pompous voice and if he went near a boy he would practically jump on them and try and kiss them.

As Amy walked down the corridor back to the Gryffindor common room after dinner that night with Neville and the twins they encountered Cedric and as Neville pulled her under his arm protectively the twins grinned at each other. Cedric was walking along with his head down, making sure he didn't look at anyone, but when Fred stepped in front of him and said "Evening Diggory" he surprised him, forcing him to look up.

He looked Fred up and down with hungry eyes before saying to him in a very posh English voice "I'm quite gay you know".

Fred kept his face neutral and replied "yes I know" just as Cedric tried to jump on him. Fred made a big deal out of restraining Cedric even though the two were evenly matched for muscles. Amy laughed loudly and had to lean on Neville to remain upright.

As Fred released him Cedric tried to run off in embarrassment but then George stepped in front of him. "I'm quite gay you know" he said again before lunging at him.

George simply stepped back quickly so that Cedric landed flat on his face in front of a lot of 6th and 7th years.

By this time Amy was laughing so hard she'd given up leaning on Neville and was now actually rolling on the floor, clutching her stomach and Neville was doubled up.

Cedric flushed bright red and turned to run from the corridor as everyone there laughed at him.

Amy was still rolling on the floor as everyone else left, still chuckling.

Draco offered her his hand and pulling her up, gave her a lopsided grin, holding her hand slightly longer than necessary. A fact Neville didn't miss. "Great show Weasley's" he said, without taking his eyes of Amy.

"Sorry? Were you speaking to Amy or us? We couldn't tell with you staring at her".

Draco scowled in their direction before swaggering off, before Amy started laughing again as she remembered Cedric falling flat on his face.


	11. Silk

Apart from her dance sessions, Amy wasn't one for wandering the castle at night but she was suffering from insomnia again so she went for a walk in her current pyjamas, leopard print tank top with matching shorts and her favourite beige Ugg boots, as well as Draco's dressing gown. She knew it sounded pathetic, but it smelt of him and she was very...attached to his smell now.

She hid behind a suit of armour as Snape walked past before going outside and sitting on the ledge in one of the castles many arches in the walkways that connected parts of the school. The arches were at the same height as the top of her neck so she had to jump, using her arms to support her till she could get her leg over and after several attempts managed to haul herself up.

She sat there a while, just gazing out over the forest in the moonlight. The last few days had been much better with the twins pulling jokes on Cedric, but it didn't solve the problem.

And then there was the problem of Draco.

He was extremely good looking, and he seemed to care for her.

He cared so much that he was actually on speaking terms with Harry, Ron and Neville.

She thought of a song she'd heard a while ago called "Crush" by David Archuleta and decided to sing it quietly.

"_Why do I keep running from the truth?_

_All I ever thing about is you._

_You got me hypnotised._

_So mesmerised._

_And I just got to know..._

_Do you ever think,_

_When you're all alone,_

_All that we could be,_

_Where this thing could go._

_Am I crazy or falling in love?_

_Is it real or just another crush?_

_Do you catch a breath when I look at you,_

_Are you holding back,_

_Like the way I do._

_Cause I try and try to walk away,_

_But I know this crush ain't going away..."_

She sang softly with her back and head leaning on the side wall of the arch, one leg dangling down on the other side towards the forest.

"Nice song" said a deep voice from the shadows.

She whirled her head around, nearly falling of the ledge.

"Woahhhh" said Draco, rushing forwards with his arms outstretched to steady her but she'd already righted herself by the time he reached her. "Who's it for?"

"What?"

"The song...who's it for?"

"Oh...just...someone I've know a few years."

After all it wasn't a lie. She had known him a few years, five to be exact. She just hadn't really known..._him._

"Are you my tail for the night?"She asked as he raised his arms up to her, lifting her down as though she was nothing more than a small child.

"No it's supposed to be Longbottom" he said with a frown.

"I'm surprised that you four are getting on so well!"

"Mmm...it's probably because we're all protecting you, so it's like we're all united and there's no point in wasting your time fighting when you have something that needs doing." He smiled down at her. "I see you're fond of it" he indicated the dressing gown.

"Oh...yes it keeps me...warm."

"Yes...because silk does that in Scotland in October" he said with a sly smile.

She only ducked her head in response before whirling round as she heard something padding behind her.

In the moonlight she saw a hunched over shape approaching them slowly.

She took a small step forwards, scrunching up her eyes "What is that?" she muttered, half to herself and half to Draco. "No..." she half breathed, half gasped.

"Amy get back" Draco muttered at her sharply. "Don't make any sudden movements or noise."

She stepped back quietly as the creature advanced until she felt Draco's hands resting lightly on her waist, telling her too stop. She realised with a sinking feeling that she didn't have her wand, and she was guessing that Draco didn't have his either.

The werewolf stopped, about eight metres away from them. It crouched, whimpering slightly then tensed, growled and sprung at them.

Amy screamed and Draco grabbed her, pulling her back into his chest, turning them around and curling his back around Amy's so that he covered her completely and put himself in the werewolf's path.

Amy squeezed her eyes shut; waiting for it too hit but instead heard "Wingardium Leviosa!" She carefully opened one eye to see Neville, ashen faced and shaking, but pointing his wand firmly into the air above their heads. She lifted her head and saw the werewolf turning in the air, growling slightly as it tried to get to them.

She gave a noise a bit like a whimper as it lashed out a paw at her and Draco, nearly touching his head.

"Out the arch Neville!" Came Draco as he released Amy, only to pull her towards him in an enveloping hug, hiding her face in his chest and holding her there reassuringly.

Neville did as he said and he stopped the spell with the werewolf hanging 6ft above the ground. The werewolf fell into the courtyard and did of course land on its feet. It howled loudly, causing Amy to shiver and Draco to pull her in tighter before it scampered off into the forest.

"That was so scary" she whispered into Draco's chest before breaking away, "Well done Neville! I've never seen you do Wingardium Leviosa before!"

Neville simply blushed.


	12. So What?

It was the end of the Dumbledore's Army meeting and everyone was getting ready to leave when the door exploded. Parts of the wall and door flew backwards. Some people screamed and Amy felt someone pull her head into them as they stood in front of her, with their back to the exploding door so that none went on Amy.

She looked up just as Neville turned back around.

As the dust settled, she saw Umbridge in her usual pink suit with her cronies. She scanned them quickly and saw a blonde head and Draco's face, looking rather sulky. Their eyes locked and she dimly heard Umbridge squeal "Get them!" at the same time that Harry screamed at them to run.

She felt Neville grab her hand and pull her backwards but at the same time she was pushed forward by someone, forcing her and Draco to break eye contact as she stumbled and lost grip of Neville's hand. All the movement had upset the dust again and in the chaos she realised she'd been separated from her friends and was almost out of the ruined room when large arms grabbed her around her upper body, lifting her off the ground and they said "Gotcha" in her ear. Goyle.

She struggled to get her feet to the ground crying "LET GO" with each struggle. Her arms were trapped by her side and she couldn't breathe properly as Goyle tightened his grip. She started panicking and her struggles became stronger as adrenaline rushed through her.

She screamed as there was a flash of red light that she assumed was aimed at her and screamed again as she fell to the floor, landing softly on top of him but with the wind taken out of her.

The dust was whirling around and she could see nothing as someone pulled her to her feet and ran quickly along the corridor, regardless of her tripping and stumbling behind them. She thought it was Neville or one of her friends but as her rescuer pulled her behind a curtain with them she could see who it was in the dim light.

"You" she said again to the blonde boy. "I thought you were Neville! Why aren't you with your friends?" she panted.

"Why are you with yours" he asked angrily.

She was lost for words. While she was panting and out of breath from her exercise he seemed completely composed.

"You're so, so lucky I saw you and managed to stun Goyle, otherwise you'd be joining Potter and co in detention for the next few months. Why are you with them anyway?"

"I- Oh Fuck my friends!" She moaned gently.

He regretted ranting at her now, his face softened and he told her reassuringly, "most managed to escape out of another door Longbottom wanted. I just wish you'd gone the same way. Now we're stuck here until we're sure they've all gone!"

Normally if someone spoke to her like that she'd make sure they felt the sharp side of her tongue, but he had helped her. Today and for the last few weeks.

"Well...thank you for helping me. Again."

He looked down at her, "you're welcome" he said sincerely, all anger gone from his face.

He grinned suddenly "By the way, I very much enjoyed your dance the other night".

"I thought you might" she grinned back mischievously.

They stared into each other's eyes again. Both thought that the other had fascinating eyes that were equalled by no other.

He wiped some dust of her cheek, his touch gentle. His hand froze near her jaw, their faces slowly inched closer, eyes focused on each other as they both breathed unevenly.

His lips brushed hers gently in the softest kiss she had ever experienced, but the softness didn't seem to register for her lips felt as though pins and needles were gently poking them.

"What is this?" came Umbridge's shrill voice right on the other side of the curtain. The two froze, their faces millimetres apart. The three seconds that passed felt a lot longer.

"I never expected you to be part of this Miss. Chang!"

Amy almost felt sorry for the girl.

The two were still frozen as everyone walked past their hiding place. They could hear Harry growling to his captor that he could walk by himself.

When all was silent again, the two breathed a sigh of relief and then started to pant slightly as they both realised they'd been holding their breath.

"I think" he panted "that we should get out of here".

Amy laughed breathlessly "Definitely".

He put his hand in the small of her back, almost covering it as she was so petit and him so big. She tingled slightly but carried on and pushed the curtain out of the way.

Pansy stopped walking along the corridor.

"Drakie you're...you're with a Gryffindor!"

Amy groaned. She could only imagine how this looked. Her dishevelled and both of them out of breath now.

"So what?" he said dismissively as he propelled Amy along away from her.


	13. Behind These Hazel Eyes

The next morning Amy and Lavender walked down to breakfast together talking about last night and everyone who had caught.

"Poor Hermione, I heard Umbridge uses really horrible torture methods. You know how much Hermione can't stand pain!"

"I feel guilty! I mean...we just left them, I feel that we should own up or something but then I think about Umbridge's punishment methods and I forget all about owning up!" Lavender shuddered delicately.

"There she is!" came a screeching voice.

Amy looked up across the castle's entrance hall and saw Pansy and her cronies advancing.

"Oh fuck" she groaned.

"Why's she after you?" whispered Lavender, confusion evident on her face.

"Long story" she muttered back as they reached the bottom of the stairs, "tell you later".

"You can stay away from my Drakie. I'm not going to let some Gryffindor whore poison his mind and try to steal him away. You must have given him a love potion because he'd never look twice at anyone like _you. _You're just a dumb slut who needs to keep her knickers on. You're just easy prey. Everyone knows that you're a really bad girlfriend. Poor Cedric, he must be trying to think of a nice way to get rid of you. I wouldn't bother if I was him".

"_Well that wasn't too bad_" though Amy.

"Shutup Parkinson. She doesn't need this she's just lost one of her best friends!"

"Oh yeah about that" Pansy turned to Amy again, a malevolent glint in her eyes "don't you think you got over his death just a little bit too quickly? After all, he's not just some rat that you can replace...."

Amy's blood boiled.

"SHUT YOUR FACE YOU FAT COW. WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT? YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH OF A HEART IN YOU FOR YOU TOO MISS SOMEBODY. YOU'RE LIKE FUCKING POISON. NOBODY WANTS YOU NEAR THEM BUT YOU JUST KEEP INFECTING EVERYONE WITH YOUR PRESENCE. AT LEAST I DON'T NEED TO THROW MYSELF AT BOYS TO EVEN GET THEM TO LOOK AT ME. AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION. I'VE HAD RED EYES FOR THE PAST MONTH FROM CRYING. I JUST HAVEN'T DONE IT INFRONT OF SCUM LIKE YOU!"

Amy raised her arm and slapped Pansy with all of her strength, then she turned and ran. Past all the staring faces with no idea of who they were or where she was going. She tried to blink through the tears but more came, blurring her vision.

She turned a corner openly sobbing now and aiming on putting as much difference between her and Parkinson as possible but someone grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her into their arms. She would've fought like a wild cat but she recognized their scent and let herself relax and cry into their chest. Arms wound around her and a hand stroked her hair and she buried her face in their shirt.

"I'm sorry" Draco apologised. Almost in tears himself that he had put her through that. He'd always been a sucker for girls with pretty faces that cried. But now he had a girl with a beautiful face crying, and it was his fault.

"I'm sorry" he said again.

"Stop apologising" she sniffled, raising her head, tears still leaking from her almond eyes. He used the thumbs on each of his hands to try to wipe away her tears but they were just replaced with new ones.

"But it's my fault" he said, enveloping her in his arms again and leaning his head on top of hers. "I'm sorry I put you through that".

"S'not your fault" came the muffled response.

"C'mon" he sighed.

He took her to the Gryffindor common room as it was closest and he led her up the stairs to her and Parvati's room. 7th years got to choose who they shared their dormitory with. He led her to the bathroom, sat her in the sink and proceeded to wipe away her tears with a hand towel. His plan wasn't working so far.

He said nothing but she continued to cry. He looked at her thoughtfully before picking her up like a small child and carrying her back to her room, putting her down on the bed and stroking her head to comfort her as she buried her head in her pillow.

When she'd calmed down, the two sat talking about their lives until Lavender came back upstairs.

"Amy!" she cried when she saw her, then she stopped in her tracks as she took in Draco as well.

"Oh...hi" she smiled, her eyes flickering between the two.

Draco smiled at her before kissing Amy on the forehead and walking out, leaving Lavender with a little "O" shape where her mouth should've been. She turned to look at Amy and Amy recognized the look on her face.

"I'm going for a bath" she said, scrambling up and running to the bathroom.

"Oh no you-" Lavender started before Amy slammed the door in her face.

The next morning Amy woke up with sore eyes. At first she didn't remember why, but then heard a tap on the window.

Getting up she found an owl with a note attached to its leg. The sender obviously wasn't expecting a reply as the owl took of straight away.

_Meet me at the Black Lake at 8 o'clock._

_D x_

The note said.

She was drifting back off to sleep when she heard an owl tapping at the window again. She groaned and got up, stumbling to the window. It was the same owl.

_Don't go back to sleep._

The new note said. She grinned and forced herself to get up.


	14. Admit It

"Potter! Weasley! Longbottom!" Draco called out.

The three were down by the black lake watching Amy. It was Harry's watch but Ron and Neville had come along to keep him company and talk about long term solutions.

"I'm going to watch her today".

"What? Why?" Asked Ron. "Your watch is tomorrow!"

Draco turned his icy eyes on Ron "Well seeing as she's been back out on each of your watches and Longbottom was the only who tailed her, I think it's for the best. Especially as the last time a werewolf tried to attack us!"

Harry and Ron didn't look surprised so Neville had obviously told them.

"Look yeah" Ron started angrily "We need to sleep. If she wants to go wandering around at night we can't stop her and we can't be expected to stay up all night just in case she does!"

"If she was important enough to you, you would make the small sacrifice and stay awake".

"What. You saying I don't care about one of my friends?"

"You know exactly what I'm saying..."

"Well I do care about her! I care so much that I've spent the last two weeks worrying and trying to figure how to get her out of this mess! Jeez, anyone would think you fancy her!"

Draco said nothing.

"OMG" Ron stood up quickly. "You do don't you? You fancy Amy!"

"No I do-" Draco started protesting now.

"Oh I don't believe this!! That's why you're so eager to help us protect her! Go on. Admit it."

"No."

The two stood glaring at each other, nose to nose. The tension in the air was so think you could cut it.

"Well..." Neville started hesitantly. "_I _don't have feelings for her. She's beautiful and everything, but we've been friends too long for me to see her that way. I love her. But as a friend, and she knows that."

"I agree with Neville" said Harry "and anyway you know I like Ginny Ron."

Ron turned to stare at Harry.

"Oh come one Ron, why are you being so touchy about Amy? Everyone knows you like Hermione and besides, it's just as well Malfoy does like Amy, otherwise he'd be stuck with Parkinson" he finished with a smirk. "Although if you hurt her, Parkinson will have to find someone else to fawn over" he warned, raising an eye-brow at Draco.

Draco nodded stiffly and Harry got up and started walking away, pulling Neville and a resisting Ron after him.

"Wait Potter. I though you liked her. That night in the library..."

"Nah. She's all yours".

Draco turned, a silly grin on his face. He took a deep breath and walked forwards to the edge of the trees. He heard a cry and froze.


	15. No Air

Amy was standing at the edge of the Black Lake thinking about how she was going to handle the next few days when she felt a firm shove in her back, making her fall forwards in to the lake with a cry of surprise. Water filled her mouth and she was shocked as the icy water enveloped her, freezing her limbs.

Strong hands held her head under the water. The cold, her lack of oxygen and the weight of her clothes made her struggling became weak and after a few moments of thrashing around she was close to exhaustion. A few seconds later and she was still. She had no energy left to struggle with. Her lungs burned for air and the feeling contrasted with how cold her body was.

She didn't get flashes of her life, and she wasn't sure that she'd want to see her life again before she died. The parts of her life she remembered best were recent, and most weren't happy.

"GET OFF HER".

She heard someone yell, their voice distorted as it reached her through the water and she let herself fall unconscious.

Draco raced over the grass towards Diggory. The boy was waist deep in water and Draco had seen the struggling figure he was holding beneath the surface and he knew from the cry he'd heard that it was Amy. Diggory appeared to have not heard and Draco ran as fast as he could towards him before taking a great leap into the air straight into Diggory so that he released Amy and the two crashed into the water.

Draco surfaced and within seconds was pulling a limp wet body out of the water. Something that should have been difficult due to the amount of water in her clothes but he acted like it was no more strain then picking up a bag. He turned, holding her in his arms and kicked Diggory in the stomach so that he fell back under the water before struggling to the bank.

"Breathe" he commanded, thumping her on the back, but she just lay there limply.

"COME ON" he yelled. Panicking. Thumping her back again and again.

Amy coughed up water. It wasn't much but it felt like half the lake to her. When she was done her body convulsed several more times and she fell still apart from the shaking of her limbs.

"Draco?" she croaked, eyes still shut.

"I'm here, I'm here" he said, caressing her face in his hands, moving her soaking hair away from her face.

Her eyes fluttered before closing shut again and he picked her up again, bridal style, making sure her head rested on his chest he walked back to the castle, his own body sopping wet.

He walked through Hogwarts in an almost stately way, oblivious to the stares everyone was giving him as they stopped to watch him on their way to lessons.

"What the-" started Professor Snape. "Draco give her to me, I'll take her to the hospital wing" he said, holding out his arms for her.

"No" Draco said forcefully.

"Give her to me!" Snape repeated, as he approached Draco, shocked at how his favourite pupil was speaking to him.

"No" Draco said again. This time growling the word. His normally light grey eyes were now a dark, dangerous grey, and his expression prevented anyone else from approaching him as he made his way to the hospital wing.

"Drakie-"Pansy began as she ran up. His head swivelled to glower at her and she stopped in her tracks as he continued.


	16. Break Away

Two days later, Amy walked through the corridors, a small smile evident on her face.

She'd been in Dumbledore's office for the past hour, telling him everything that Cedric had done to her for the past few months, and under the circumstances; he'd expelled Cedric as he had tried to murder his fellow student.

"And I'm sure you can think of some way for you to show your talent to your friends." He'd told her, that famous twinkle in his eye.

Madam Pomfrey had patched her up in no time, she'd only needed to check there was no more water left in Amy's lungs and that she wasn't ill from the cold she'd been exposed too. Amy had only been in the Hospital Wing so long for her own protection until Cedric was expelled.

That meant she was free. Free to do whatever she wanted, and to have no fear of him trapping her in some dark corner.

A grin spread across her face, making her eyes crinkle a bit at the ends as she felt herself break away from Cedric and the hold he'd had on her.

She looked outside as she walked past one of the windows; it was pouring with rain. Rather than dampening her spirits, she had an idea.

She took her ipod out of her pocket; put a waterproof and amplifying spell on it and lifting up her robes, clipped it to her skirt belt. She took of her robes and dumping them in a corner she walked out into the rain in her blouse and skirt.

She was soaking within seconds but she pressed play and "Singin' In the Rain" by Mint Royale came on.

She started doing a street dance. When she moved water sprayed of her and was flung up every time she moved her feet. She dragged her foot on the ground before quickly throwing it up behind her, putting her hands together in front of her and looking towards the castle as she did, the water flew of her foot and hung in the air a second, creating a perfect pose for a picture as her hair clung to her face and neck. She circled her head quickly and saw the water fly away from her as her hair whipped around her. She did a double pirouette really fast with her arms outstretched so that the rain glanced of her arms and flung out in a circle around her as well as swirling around her feet. She laughed delightedly and moved her arms around in a pattern, kicking her legs up and flinging the water around her, feeling like George Sampson. She raised her head up, closed her eyes and let herself spin like a happy child for a minute; a big grin on her face, not caring about her make-up or the cold she was going to catch.

She had no fear of anyone seeing her, for they were all in lessons.

She walked back into the school entrance and was confronted with half the school staring at her with open mouths.

"Fuck" she mouthed.

"Amy that was brilliant" said Fred and George Weasley, coming up to her and speaking in time.

"Amazing" said Ernie.

"Amy, why didn't you-"came Luna.

"Wow" started Parvati. "I didn't know you could-"

She was cut off by a hundred other people coming forward to congratulate her. As they advanced towards her she couldn't see the four boys standing back and smiling at her, glancing at each other.

Harry indicated Amy with his head "Go on then" he ordered Draco.

Meanwhile Amy was feeling a bit over whelmed. "I-I-" this was all she'd ever wanted wasn't it? Her friends to accept her love of dance?

But it was too much too soon.

"Do you want to get out of here?" a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

She nodded and felt them drag her backwards, away from her friends.

"Brilliant dancing by the way" he called over his shoulder as he pulled her into The Room of Requirement.

It had taken the form of a homely looking cubby hole with a big fire and a sofa placed right in front of it.

He turned and smirked at her. "Why is it every time I see you now a day's you're covered in water?" he asked teasingly.

"Mmmmmm" I think it's you." she teased back, making him chuckle lightly. "As we're in the room of requirement, you must've thought about me with wet clothes again."

He grinned again and then frowned slightly and some dry clothes and a towel appeared on the sofa arm, and a screen in the corner of the room.

She flashed him a grateful smile, grabbed the clothes and towel and disappeared behind the screen.

"I'm going to guess from the way you were smiling and laughing as you danced that you've heard the good news about Diggory?" he called out.

"Oh yeah. Was it you who told Dumbledore?"

"Yes."

"I'm surprised he got rid of Cedric, he was a star pupil".

"Yeah with a criminal record".

"What???"

"Apparently a muggle girl told the police he raped her, but the charges were dropped when she withdrew her complaint suddenly."

"Are you having a laugh?!?!" she called, enraged from behind the screen.

"Oh no I-"

"I meant about this!!!"

She emerged from behind the screen, gesturing to her body with her hands, both eye-brows raised, mouth open.

Draco looked at her, confused for a moment and then started laughing. "Oops" he simply said.

"Oops???" she stooped down and picked up her soaking shirt so she could throw it at him. She missed of course and only made him laugh harder.

She was wearing a low and short white tank top that only came down to her belly button and barely covered the top of her lacy red bra which was incredibly obvious through the skimpy white material and black shorts that were more like knickers they were so short.

She wasn't ashamed of her body so she just rolled her eyes and came and sat down next to him on the sofa, crossing her legs and facing him. After all, the boy frequently saw her in clothes that were either sopping wet and clinging to her body, or he saw her in a skin tight leotard!

Draco stopped laughing after a while "I'm sorry but I only wished for clothes, I didn't really think about what kind." He smirked. The two sat in companiable silence for a while as Amy ran her hair through her fingers to try and make it dry quicker.

"Hey...Draco?" she asked hesitantly as he looked at her expectantly. "When the werewolf went for us, you turned me so that it would get you first and I...when I woke up, Madam Pomfrey said I'd just missed you, and that you'd gone as soon as I'd started waking up." She hesitated again. "She also told me that...that you carried me there and that...you wouldn't let anyone else touch me or help you. Why did you do that?" she finally asked.

Now it was Draco's turn to hesitate. "Well....I...Ever since I first followed you and watched you dance all that time ago, I've felt really...protective of you. I mean...you're so beautiful and slim, so you look frail! Like the bruises on your arms! They covered the whole upper part of your arms! When the werewolf attacked I just wanted to protect you and when I saw the bruises and guessed about Diggory I just...I couldn't believe that someone would treat _you_ like that. And I...after the way that scumbag treated you I just didn't really...trust anyone else to get you there safely" he finished, his eyes smouldering at her, a lock of hair hanging down.

She reached out slowly to push it back, her hand lingering as the two looked at each other.

Suddenly his lips were crashing down on hers, but his kiss was soft and gentle. Her hands tangled in his hair and he shifted so she was forced on her back. He was on his knees, straddling her hips and leaning on his elbows so he didn't squash her.

He nibbled her lip gently and she gave a soft moan that seemed to throw him into a frenzy. He stopped being gentle and started being passionate. She could almost feel his longing and desire for her as his lips travelled down her neck while she gasped for air.

He looked up at her, his eyes were back to the deep gray they sometimes seemed to be. "I love you" he stated simply and went back to her neck.

"How long've-" she didn't finish her sentence because he was busy kissing her lips again.


	17. Firelight

Draco and Amy were sitting on the sofa in The Room of Requirement. Amy had fallen asleep with her head resting on his chest, one of his arms wrapped securely around her waist, the other around her shoulders.

He looked down at the girl sleeping in his arms. He'd been watching her for the past few months, wanting to hold her and protect her. And now he had the chance. He kissed the top of her head lovingly and she moved slightly, sighing before snuggling closer and burying her face into his chest.

He smiled, still looking at her and thought back to what she'd said to him.

"_I love you too" _were the words he'd longed to hear from her mouth for so long and now he'd heard them, he thought that the love he had for her in his heart was so big that he could give some to everyone in the castle.

"_Except Pansy" _he thought darkly.

Yes he'd deal with Pansy later. No-one was going to harm Amy as long as she had him.

They'd got a lot of feelings out in the open and they'd spent the whole night talking and kissing. She'd finally fallen asleep in his arms, exhausted and now he was on the verge of sleep as well.

He looked more closely at her, noticing a few things that he'd never thought about before.

She wore a silver necklace in an "X" shape on a short silver chain round her neck. One of the lines was diamond, while the other was plain silver and it lay just above her collar bone, making her neck look even more elegant and slim. He'd never noticed it before, but when he thought back he realised that she'd always worn it, and wondered if it had any significance.

She had beautiful lips, not big and red, more pale pink and normal sized, but in her sleep they were turned upwards slightly at the edges. This was good, he liked people who smiled in their sleep, it meant they were very happy with their life or they'd been happy as they fell asleep. He couldn't believe he'd never noticed her lips before, but then again he had been staring into her eyes most of the time.

He noticed how her eye-lashes were curved and black, even without mascara.

He noticed how the firelight danced of her skin and lit up her face.

Draco softly rested his head on top of hers and whispered his new favourite song lyrics, "Because I Can't Live Without You" and promptly fell asleep, a smile still on his lips.


	18. Getting Ready

Draco entered the Gryffindor common room in the early hours of the evening to find it deserted but for two first years and several fourth years he didn't know. They looked at him strangely as they realised someone non-Gryffindor had entered their common room, before smiling as they realised who he was and that he was going to the Halloween Ball for 6th and 7th years only.

He bound up the stairs to his left to find Harry and Ron putting the finishing touches to themselves.

"Alright guys, listen I need your advice. For her birthday, should I take her to Africa or America? I think Africa but Blaise keeps saying America!"

"Definitely Africa".

"Yeah I agree. More animals for you to protect her from". The two snickered.

"Alright, alright, very funny."

"Ready Harry? Right lets go then!"

They walked down the stairs at the same time the twins walked down the stairs from their dorm with Lee and Neville trailing after them. Lee was trying to persuade Neville to eat a sweet that looked suspiciously like a Puking Pastille but it seemed that Neville had eaten one too many already and he wasn't buying it this time.

"Alright boys, don't you look smashing!" said Fred in a posh voice.

Lavender came bounding down the stairs, ready, but looking for something. She didn't notice any of them till she turned around, her shoes clutched triumphantly in her hand. She looked at them all and grinned. She was going with Justin Finch-Fletchley so it didn't matter if any of them saw her in her dress before she got to the entrance hall.

"Lav!"Came a voice from upstairs. "Have you seen my dress? I thought I took it up last night but- Merlin I haven't even finished my make-up yet, I'm being so slow tonight I-" Amy stopped as she walked round the corner. She was looking down at the steps so she didn't notice the room full of boys until she reached the bottom and looked up.

Her mouth dropped open and she looked around at the faces gawking at her. Taking in everyone there, even the first and fourth years who were craning around everybody to look at her.

She looked down at herself and saw she was wearing a pink pair of lace knickers and a matching lace bra that were very scanty, only covering the necessary places as she didn't want them to show through her dress.

"I'm just going to go umm, get dressed" she said slowly, pointing upstairs and turning around to go back up when she turned around again and, hurrying over to Ron and Harry edged between them to get to her dress hanging up behind them before rushing back upstairs.

"Wow, Draco you're going to have some serious competition when she's got a body like that!" came Fred's voice as everyone laughed.


	19. Noone Matters

Draco was happy with his life at the moment. He was going out with Amy, the love of his life, and she made him happy. He still wasn't exactly friends with Harry, Neville and Ron, but he found The Twins easy to get along with.

But then Voldemort started calling him away at night.

Draco immediately went to see Dumbledore for protection and so he didn't have to sneak out; Dumbledore had listened to Draco and made sure that he could leave Hogwarts grounds unchallenged each time he was called upon.

Draco hadn't received his Dark Mark yet, but he was only safe from it until he was seventeen, a matter of months away. Voldemort had a rule about only giving it to his followers once they were seventeen and had left Hogwarts.

He'd already explained to Amy, although he hated to admit it, it had been a sort of test for her. If she accepted it, he would know she was the one for him, if she didn't then regardless of how much he loved her, he knew she'd never want to be with him. He knew that if she still loved him when he told her then they'd be able to love each other through anything.

At first she had freaked a bit, and backed away from him, but he'd held her back, explaining about his predicament.

*Flashback*

"_No-one matters in the world matters more to me them my mother! I don't care about my father; he can go rot in Azkaban for all I care! It's his fault that my mothers in this anyway! Amy believe me! I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be!"_

_Shock and disappointment ran fleetingly across her face before she lowered her gaze and after a few moments of silence, nodded at the bed covers lying around her._

"_Ok" she whispered, hugging him and burying her face in his chest._

_Draco knew she was the one for him now._

*End Of Flashback*

"_Yes...she's definitely the one for me_" he thought with a small smile as he walked along the corridor to The Room of Requirement to meet with her again.

On opening the door he saw the usual four poster bed with purple bedcovers, they'd decided on a colour that didn't represent any of the houses. The room was warm and he spied Amy standing with her back to him, arms crossed over her chest, looking out of the window over the grounds.

He snuck up behind her and slipping his arms around his hips kissed her cheek, making her jump.

She turned and smacked his arm playfully "Idiot!" she laughed.

She looked at him properly, her smile fading, "do you really have to go again?"

"You know I do..."

"But you only just got back from the last one!"

"I know, but I'll be back on Sunday" he said kissing her forehead.

"You're going to miss the Hogsmeade weekend" she sighed.

"Yes I know...I'm relying on you to bring me back some sweets!"

She laughed before saying playfully "And what do I get in return" before wriggling out of his arms and running to the other side of the room. He growled playfully at her and ran after her, chasing her round the room before finally catching up with her a few minutes later and throwing her, laughing, on the bed before pouncing on her.


	20. Dark Magic

"Amy where are you going?" yelled Parvati after her friend.

"I'm just going to go talk to Ron" she yelled back.

"Alright, we'll be in the Three Broomsticks" was the reply as Parvati and Lavender turned to leave.

Amy waved her arm in their direction to show she'd heard.

"Hey Ron" she called as she saw the red head turn into an alleyway with Harry.

She jogged to catch them up but when she got there, no-one was in the alley.

She walked forwards slowly."RON!" she shouted. No reply.

A hand grabbed her and pinned her back against the alley wall. For a moment, she remembered how Cedric had treated her before she looked up, surprise and dread written all over her face until it turned to fear as she saw the face covered in a mask. The mask of a Deatheater.

She next woke up feeling groggy and very cold. She raised her head and groaned. She was lying in what appeared to be a cellar.

She gave a jolt and scooted away from the person sitting a few metres away from her.

"Miss Tait, glad you're awake".

"Oh my god" her eyes were wide open and her mouth formed an "O" shape as she took in the tall figure with the snake-like face. "You're _him _aren't you?"

"Yes I am the Dark Lord. I take it you've heard of me?"

"_Is he being sarcastic?"_ she thought in horror.

"I want you to join me."

She looked at him, horror and shock evident on her face. "_Well he certainly didn't mess around_!" If she refused he'd kill her, if she agreed she'd be betraying all of her friends and going back on her beliefs.

"Never." She whispered.

"_I'm dead_" she thought.

"I thought you might say that. Well, it's a shame to waste something as beautiful as you, but I'll dispose of you later." He got up to leave but turned back before he reached the door.

He walked over to her and lightly touched a nail to her side and then left the room.

Amy ignored the slimy feeling creeping up her side and put it down to the fact that it was _Voldemort_.

Hours later she was thrown forwards by a Deatheater into the middle of a circle of them, at Voldemort's feet.

"Welcome my followers" he said politely. "Here we have a girl. A Hogwarts student who has refused to join us."

Amy tried to look around at the Deatheaters, wondering if any of them were Draco, but with their masks on and hoods up, she couldn't tell.

"So first, before we dispose of her I'm going to read her mind and find out everything she knows about Hogwarts and its weaknesses" Voldemort continued.

"_Shit! He's going to see about me and Draco!" _she saw a Deatheater behind him twitch and knew it was Draco, she looked at him fleetingly before she felt Voldemort in her mind.

She'd never done Occlumency, so she had no choice but to watch and scream in agony as he entered her mind and her memories flashed before her eyes, letting Voldemort see them.

_Her and Lavender laughing at Parvati._

_Christmas three years ago when her parents had got her a new owl._

_Her and Draco in The Room of Requirement._

_Her and Ron cheering Harry on at a Quidditch match._

_Her running through the barrier for the first time._

_Her and Draco in the Forbidden Forest._

_Her on stage, dancing her first solo._

_Cedric beating her._

_Her dancing in the rain._

_Draco chasing her._

_Her and Draco under the mistletoe._

_Her and Draco under the stars._

_Her and Draco..._

She came back to the present, gasping for breath.

"It seems Miss Tait and young Mr Malfoy are quite acquainted with each other..."

Several of the Deatheaters hissed while others laughed and sneered down at her.

"Easy prey My Lord. I feel nothing for her I just needed an easy target to make Miss Parkinson jealous."

Amy knew he was protecting himself, but his words still hurt, and she had no certain way of knowing whether or not he was telling the truth.

Her eyes filled with tears but she blinked them away. She would not cry in front of these people.

"Is that so? Well if she means nothing to you...kill her."

"What?" asked Draco, Amy could hear the panic under his sharp tone.

"Kill her. I need her disposed off."

Draco walked over to her slowly, stopping and looking down when he was by her side. She could see the firmness in his grey eyes. He'd made up his mind.

She wanted to look at him defiantly, but she couldn't hold his gaze so she closed her eyes and looked back down.

There was a moment of silence before a hand grabbed her and a big crack was heard.

She felt nothing.

She slowly prised her eyes open to find herself in Hogsmeade.

"Heaven looks like this?" she asked incredulously.

"No, come on we have to move" said Draco behind her as he took off his mask and lowered his hood.

"Erm..you...I-"

"Amy we don't have long! Ok. Look, you're not dead. When he ordered me to kill you I walked forwards like I was going to, but grabbed you and apparated us back here. We need to move before they come after us!"

"I- You did that...for me?" she asked, touched by his sacrifice.

"Yes. And it'll count for nothing if we don't move!"

She smiled up at him before scrambling to her feet.

"OUCH!" she doubled over in pain as a stabbing pain went through her side. All her muscles tensed as her hands automatically cupped her skin.

"Amy! What-" Draco stopped now, his arm around her in his concern.

"It's fine. I- Ouch!"

Draco crouched down slightly and lifted up the hem of her school shirt. On her left side, level with her belly button she had a black mark that had tendrils growing from it. It looked as though someone had taken ink, dabbed it on her skin and then it had spread out, covering about a square centimetre of her skin.

"That's where he touched me. Voldemort. When he came to ask me to join him and I refused, he touched me there with his nail.

Draco looked up at her. "We need to get you to Dumbledore _now_!" he said urgency evident in his voice.

He grabbed her hand and the two ran through Hogsmeade, Amy feeling worse with each step. She could feel a headache coming and she felt really hot, but she dismissed it as being the frantic running.

Draco released her hand and approached the gates. He started whispering to them, trying to persuade them to let them in while Amy stood a few metres away.

"Dra-Dra-I-" her voice barely went past her lips. She was hot, too hot, and clammy. And her head hurt so much, it was pounding and her eye-lids felt heavy as they drooped. She swayed on the spot before falling to her knees, her breathing laboured and shallow.

Draco turned at the sound of her falling.

"Amy???"

He ran to her side as she slumped to the pavement, eyes closed and breathing uneven. Her forehead was covered in a light sheen of sweat and she wasn't moving.

"Oh no, no no no no no no! Amy? Amy!?"

The gates clicked open and he looked at them a moment before picking her up, cradling her to his chest and sprinting over the Hogwarts grounds and the castle till he reached Dumbledore's office.

"CHOCOLATE FROGS!" he yelled at the entrance.

He burst into Dumbledore's office.

"HELP ME! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER! I SHE VOLDEMORT SAID TO HER HE ASKED HER AND I THEN SHE HE SAID HER-"

"Draco stop!"

Draco stopped talking, panting heavily, his eyes wild as he put her on the Professors desk and ran his hands through his hair.

"You have to help me! She's the one for my Professor! I can't-"

"DRACO!" Dumbledore thundered.

He stopped again.

"Now explain to me what happened".

"He had her brought to the meeting. He said she'd refused to join him and he read her mind. He saw everything about us! Me helping her with Diggory, the times we were together, everything! He told everyone that we were well acquainted and I told him she meant nothing to me..." his voice broke near the end. He cleared his throat and continued, "I was trying to protect her! It was for her! And then he ordered me to kill her! But how could I kill anyone? Let alone her? So I grabbed her and apparated us to Hogsmeade, we couldn't get into the castle grounds. She had a pain...in her side and she had a black thing on her and then I turned around at the gates and she was lying there...and she wasn't breathing properly and she wouldn't wake up and..." he was babbling and practically in hysterics as he paced the room. He kept looking at Amy and running his hands through his hair.

"Right where is this black mark?"

"Here..." he lifted up the side of her shirt.

Dumbledore studied it a moment before turning to him.

"Draco. Are you sure she's the one?"

"Yes yes I-"

"Right, well. This spell he put on her. It's very, very dark magic. He's sent her spirit from her body, to places around Britain that she's been before and has unhappy memories off. If you want her back the way she was, you'll have to locate these places and find each part of her spirit. Are you sure she's the one."

"Yes! How will I know her spirit?"

"They'll glow silver, like a Patronus. One form a part of her spirit may take may actually be an animal, and it'll be the form of her Patronus. There should be three spirits, but if she's been particularly unhappy, there may be four. This shouldn't take you long, but if Voldemort knows where you are, you will have to fight your way back."

"How do I give them back to her?"

"You must take her with you, for you cannot touch her spirit. When you find a part of her spirit, you have to comfort it, it'll be distressed about something and you will have to reassure it and persuade it to come with you. When they get within a two meter radius of Amy, they'll disappear back into her."

"Ok."

"Are you ready Draco?"

Draco nodded determinedly.

"Well I suggest you start here, in the school. You have until tomorrow when you were originally expected back."

"She'll need a wand for when she wakes up...He still has hers..."

Dumbledore searched his desk a moment before pulling out a slightly short wand.

"Here, it's wand that will adapt to anyone, but hopefully she won't need it."

Draco took the wand and picking her up gently turned and walked out the door.

"Oh and Draco, as you regain each part of her spirit, Voldemort will be able to locate you more clearly. Tonight, if you succeed with the first part of her soul, he'll simply know she's in Britain, and he knows that you'll be with her, so don't stay too long in one place."

The door swung shut behind Draco, and after a moments consideration he set off towards the Gryffindor common room.


	21. Scattered

He set her down on a sofa in front of the fire and proceeded to her Dorm. Poking his head around the door he saw that Lavender was asleep and breathing loudly, and at a glance he saw nothing silver around.

He checked the rest of the dorm, nothing. But he took some keys he found in her bedside table, hoping they were for her house.

He was about to leave when Lavender moved in her sleep. He froze before darting under Amy's bed. He saw Lavender's feet move over towards the bathroom and as the door shut he was about to wriggle out when he noticed a silver light.

Scrambling up he looked on her bed and there was the perfect image of Amy, sitting there cross legged in her leopard print tank top and shorts.

The figure radiated a silver light but otherwise looked exactly like her.

"I've lost him." She whispered.

Draco remembered Dumbledore saying how he'd need to comfort them and lead them to Amy. He kneeled down beside the bed, "Lost who?" he asked gently.

"Draco, he only cares about his mum. Not about me." She looked up and he could see a slight black mark down each of her cheeks where she had been crying and her make-up had run.

He jumped slightly, and then frowned, is that what she truly believed?

"He told me he loved me..."she whispered, looking back down.

"Well why don't we go ask him? He's waiting downstairs in the common room for you."

She shook her head, "No, he's gone away again. He won't be back till Sunday".

His eyes widened, he was talking to her spirit how she was only last night!

"He came back early, come with me and see him". He stood up as she smiled at him, then he turned to walk away, her spirit following him and he shut the door just in time as the bathroom door opened.

He turned back, the spirit had gone! He ran down the stairs frantically before he remembered about the two metre radius and checked her black mark to see that it had reduced slightly.

He breathed a sigh of relief before picking her up and walking out of the portrait hole to look for her next one.

"_Unhappy...places she's been unhappy...Diggory! Place he's done the worst he can to her...strangling her...but what corridor?? She was running back from the hall to Gryffindor common room, so if I go down this corridor I should be going in the right direction."_

He walked towards the main hall, pausing to wait a few moments at the start of each corridor until he encountered one with a silver light shining out of an archive.

He walked quickly, still carrying Amy and glimpsed her spirit, sitting curled up against the wall. She looked up at him briefly as he walked over, before vanishing.

He stopped, confused.

She must've gone back into Amy but he hadn't comforted her as Dumbledore had told him to do. What if Amy never woke up because he'd done it wrong? But then he remembered what Diggory had been doing to her at that time.

"_Maybe the sight of me, reassures her..."_he thought slowly. _"Well there's nothing I can do about it now"_ he mentally shook himself and moved on.

He arrived at her house with Amy slung over his shoulder so he could use one hand and, taking her keys from his pocket quietly tried each one until he managed to open the door.

Setting her down on the sofa he listened at each door to check no-one was in the room. The fourth room he entered was a study, just what he was looking for.

"Lumos" he whispered.

He sat down in the swivel chair and proceeded to flick through the filing cabinet, pausing whenever he encountered her name.

"Ah ha!" he murmured, pulling a piece of card from the other sheets.

"Amy Tait, Luton Festival Of Dance, Modern Solo, 98/100, 1st Place." It was dated 2002, and was the earliest date in the pile, "_so this must be where she danced first_!" he thought. _"But if she came first it will only be a happy memory."_

He continued searching through the papers till he stopped again, this time confusion written across his face.

"Amy Tait, Figure-Skating, Intermediate Level, 97/100, Distinction."

"_She never said anything about ice-skating!"_

And then,

"Jennifer Tait, Figure-Skating Intermediate Level, 98/100, Distinction."

"_Who the bloody hell is Jennifer Tait?"_

He put the papers back and his wand light reflected of something, blinding him temporarily.

He picked it up and saw a photo of two young girls, about six and seven years old who were smiling and waving enthusiastically at the camera.

They were standing at an ice-rink, one wearing a pink sparkly dress with a pink flower in her hair, and the other wearing a purple sparkly dress with a flower in her hair.

The two looked very similar as they grinned broadly.

"_So similar they could be sisters" _Draco realised.

"Amy" he whispered, touching the girl in pink with his thumb. "And Jennifer" he looked at the one in purple, "Amy's older sister" he declared out loud.

He stared at the two a moment longer before noticing a sign on the wall, Milton Keynes Ice-Rink, he'd visit there and see if anything happened.

He walked back to the living room and checked the black mark on her side again, it had decreased slightly with the last spirit he'd found.

"_He must know we're in the South of England by now"_ he thought glumly before picking her up again and apparating to the ice-rink.

Amy's spirit was already there.

The little girl was wearing a cute little blue dress, with the same flower in her hair, although it didn't sparkle, but she stood in bare feet out on the ice.

He set Amy down in the stand and ran down the steps to the ice.

"AMY!" he called out.

With his success from her two other spirits he'd grown reckless in how he approached each spirit.

The 6 year old Amy looked up at him before turning and running through an opening in the ice barrier on the opposite side.

"Shoot" he muttered and ran onto the ice, landing painfully on his elbow, then his bum, then his hands and so on as he slid and across the ice.

He skidded of the ice and onto the carpet, looking around frantically and spying a silver glow at the back of the stands.

He walked up slowly before sitting down in the row in front and looking backwards to see her sitting there with her legs pulled up to her chest.

"Why aren't you skating Amy?" he asked gently.

"Mummy won't let me" the little girl lisped slightly due to her missing front tooth. "She says it's bad".

"Now why would she say that?"

"Because of Jenny. Mummy said Jenny had an accident and now she's trapped in the ice, so Mummy said I can't come here anymore. But I know Jenny's not in the ice. I just looked and she's not there! I know Jenny fell down and banged her head and some men took her away. And now she won't come home and Mummy's sad."

Draco's heart went out for the little girl in front of him with her big brown eyes and gap between her teeth.

"If you're not allowed to skate, why are you here?"

"Because Mummy doesn't love me anymore. All she does now is cry and this morning, I asked her for breakfast, and she shouted at me so I ran away."

She spoke in such a matter of fact way, yet it was also immature.

"She does love you, and I know someone else who does as well. Come and meet them." He stood up, held out his hand for the child, forgetting that he couldn't touch her and jumped back, nearly falling over the rows of seats when his hand went freezing cold.

He recovered quickly, "Come on then."

The two walked around the ice to the other side, Draco certainly wasn't going back out there again!

"I was speaking to your Mummy this morning" he called over his shoulder, "she said she loves you very much and she misses you."

He turned back around to find her spirit gone.

He smiled slightly and thought of how the Deatheaters must know they were in Milton Keynes now. He sighed; he had no idea where to look next.

He was guessing somewhere outdoors as he had yet to find her animal form, but he had no idea what form of animal she was, nor of where the animal would be.

He looked at Amy's face, she just looked like she was sleeping, for all he knew she could be dead.

"_Dead! That's it! Her friend! But where was he buried?"_

Draco had no idea, so he apparated them back outside her parents house and walked around the neighbourhood, looking for a church. He'd figured that as Callum had been her muggle friend, he must've lived near her.

Sure enough he soon came across a small church and graveyard, but no silver light appeared. He walked among the newest gravestones till he came to the end. Then he retraced his steps, reading each stone until he came to Callum Barker, 18 years old. Draco knew this was the boy and as he read, a silver light shone of the marble head stone. He turned to see a petite wolf looking at him sorrowfully.

He gasped in awe. It was a real wolf, not werewolf. The wolf wasn't tall or big but quite small and slender. Even with the silver light it gave off, he could see it had sleek fur coloured white and light grey. To his amazement he saw that the wolf had her eyes, big and hazel, full of sadness and sorrow.

He crouched down, laying Amy softly on the grass between two tombstones.

He had a problem now, he'd located her animal spirit, but he didn't know how to comfort it or coax it over to Amy.

But he realised that the wolf was already less than two meters away, but it hadn't disappeared into her.

He looked down at Amy in confusion, noticing a flower bush on Callums grave as he did.

They were the same type of flowers as the one that had been in her hair at the ice-rink. He realised with a jolt that they were roses and though he knew it was disrespectful, he reached out and plucked a rose, removed all the thorns and placed it carefully in her hair, looking back at the wolf.

It looked at him a moment longer before slowly padding over, Draco took his wand out; ready to apparate them back to Hogwarts as soon as he could before the Deatheaters arrived. The wolf stopped by her head and lowered its muzzle to the rose, touching it with its nose. Amy glowed silver as well and the wolf disintegrated into small silver pieces, like glitter, floating around her body and gently settling on her skin before disappearing.

She took a deep breath as the last fleck disappeared and Draco grabbed her arm, disapparating them to Hogsmeade again as he heard others apparate around them.

They were in exactly the same spot they had been in before, but this time Dumbledore stood waiting for them.

"Hurry" he simply said.

Amy was still unconscious so Draco picked her up again as they hurried through the gates.


	22. The Fear

"Ok you can open them now" Draco whispered in her ear.

It was March and Draco had a surprise for her!

She opened her eyes expectantly and gasped. But it was not a gasp of surprise or delight, but one of horror.

Before her lay an ice-skating rink. It wasn't a proper one, built in a town, just a small pond that Draco had found iced over the other day and he'd tied a ribbon round the trees to fence it off and put skates under a tree for them.

Although it was already March snow still lay on the ground and occasionally drifted down from the sky, covering the snow that had turned grey and making the castle grounds sparkle beautifully again.

She turned to run but instead ran straight into him behind her.

He caught her. "Hey, hey. What's the matter?"

"I can't- I mean I- I can't-"

"Why not?"

She looked at him with anguish in her eyes.

"Draco I-" she took a deep breath. "I once had a sister and she- she died...from an ice skating injury..." she looked up at him pleadingly. "Please don't ask me to go out there, please, I just can't-" she stopped speaking and buried her face in her hands.

"I already knew about your sister."

She looked up quickly. "What?!?! I-"

"I never told you what happened when I went to get your spirit, but one part of your spirit was upset that I loved my mother more then you."

She looked down ashamed, but he simply knelt down in the snow so that he could see up into her eyes.

"That's not true" he said, shaking her hands and gently squeezing them, "I do love my mother, but I love you more. I love you more than anyone and anything in the world!" he kissed her gloved hands.

"The second part of your spirit I found was of you crying after Diggory tried to strangle you, but you disappeared as soon as you saw me so I didn't need to comfort you" he smiled crookedly and stood up.

"The fourth part of your spirit was a wolf, your patronus form in the graveyard where you buried Callum. And I persuaded and comforted it with a rose." She looked up, startled.

"But the third part; was you as a little six year old girl, in a blue dress, with a rose in your hair and a gap in your front teeth. You explained to me about your sister and her accident, and how you didn't think you're mother loved you anymore. And I persuaded you that she did, and you believed me. But do you love yourself? I still see some of that insecure little girl in you and I think the only way you'll be fully happy again, is if you face your fear and skate.

She looked at him dumbfounded for several moments. "_This boy has put his life at risk for me, with the werewolf, and Voldemort and the Deatheaters. He'll probably never see his parents again, all for me, and yet...I can't do this small thing to begin to make up for everything he's done..." _she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and mouthed "Ok".

He kissed her forehead and the two tied up their skates, then with Draco's help, she went skating on the ice for the first time in eleven years.


	23. Amazing

It was summer, two years later.

Amy burst out of the muggle club, laughing at Harry as Draco and Ron had to practically carry him out.

"Can you manage him Weasley?"

"Well there are two Weasleys here" said Ginny as she rushed out of the night club after her boyfriend.

"So?"

Ginny gave Draco a withering look and replaced him underneath Harry's left arm.

The three tottered away and Amy could dimly hear Harry's voice as it travelled back "I do! I love you! I love you Gin Gin!"

Draco and Amy doubled up with laughter, waving a goodbye to Neville and Lavender through the nightclub window.

Amy was dressed accordingly, a white halter neck top that finished above her belly button and dark blue skinny jeans with three inch white heels.

Draco was dressed in a green Ralph Lauren polo shirt that showed his muscles and Black jeans.

He pulled her into a side hug as they walked away towards Amy's parent's house. Her parents were on holiday and wouldn't be back for another three days.

They entered the house, still laughing as they recounted the night.

The doorbell rang so Amy went to get it in case it was one of the neighbours while Draco lay down on the sofa. The house wasn't big and fancy. The family had never had the need for a big house with only one child who was barely there once she turned eleven. However they did have money so instead of buying a large property they concentrated on making the inside of the house as beautiful as they could. Lamps lined the walls, some attached to the wall and some with wires so that you could move them around to your liking. A row of lights ran over the ceiling of the room with two thick wires holding each light in place.

A bookcase sat in a corner and a fireplace with logs piled beside it was placed on another wall. The rest had paintings and photographs of the family and friends adorning them.

"Hey! Who are- Get off me!"

Draco stood up quickly just as Amy was practically thrown into his arms by a thick set, dumb looking man with tattoos all over his arms.

Behind him were roughly another five men from what Draco could see.

"Who do you think you- Diggory!" Draco fumed as Cedric pushed his way to the front of the men.

"What the hell is going on here?" Demanded Draco.

Cedric definitely looked worse. His hair was cut short and he had a lot more muscles, however he hadn't shaved that day and he wore muggle clothes that were fraying around the edges.

He sneered at them "I lost everything the day you told Dumbledore and got me expelled from Hogwarts. You ruined my life, so now I'm going to ruin yours" he moved around them as he spoke, as did his four companions until they formed a circle around the couple. "When they snapped my wand, I lost the thing most important to me. I didn't know how to live as a muggle. Didn't know how to wash my clothes or anything! So now, I'm going to make you lose the thing most important to you. HER!" he turned his mad eyes on Amy. Draco pulled her behind him slightly as though to shield her from his leer.

"Our wands are upstairs" muttered Draco out the side of his mouth. "What do we do?"

"Fight" she whispered back "use anything you can find around the room. It's easy. They do it all the time in the muggle world."

"Run when I distract them."

Amy only rolled her eyes at this and thought of some ornaments to use.

Draco launched himself at Diggory, bringing him down to the floor. Amy jumped over the wrestling pair, picked up a log in each hand and swung it at the head of the nearest oaf; standing on tiptoe's to reach his head. The wood found it's mark, but rather then falling to the floor, he simply blinked at her, slightly dazed. Something grabbed her around the neck from behind and she raised both arms to smack the person on either side of the head with the two logs. He fell to the floor, making the man coming to attack Amy from behind him stumble.

She saw the knife in his hand, whirled around, throwing the logs at him and dashed to the other side of the room, this time grabbing a book. She turned to see him advancing on her, knife held above his head.

She held the book behind her back, looking to and fro, acting as though she was trapped. He brought the knife down and she flung the book up, holding it as hard as she could in both hands and the knife sank into its cover. She flipped to book over, wrenching the knife out of his grasp and sending it flying into the open kitchen doorway. She had nothing else to aid her so she did the only thing she could think of in the moment and raised her knee with all her strength. She wasn't a strong girl but she'd hit every mans weak point and as he doubled over in pain she glimpsed Draco and Diggory still wrestling on the floor. She saw Diggory punch Draco and grabbed another book, a heavy one. She heaved it into the air and watched it hit Diggory on his back. He was distracted long enough to let Draco get his own punch in, putting him in control.

Adrenaline coursed through her, making her strong and fast. She ran past her latest victory to a moveable lamp. Wrenching the socket out of the wall she stood there, waiting for the last two men to approach her. The lamp had a flat circular metal base and a metal bar to connect it to the light bulb inside the lamp hat. She shook of the decorative hat so she just had the metal rod, base and light bulb that was hot thanks to it having been on before she disconnected it.

One man started running towards her first and his stomach met the base of the lamp stand while his friend met the hot light bulb. The two stopped a moment, winded, but she didn't give them time to recover, pushing the lamp stand into their faces she heard a crunch as one man's nose broke and a scream of agony from the other as his face was hit by the hot light bulb.

The man who she first attacked was coming again so she let go of the base end of the lamp so it dangled down to the floor. When he was close enough she thrust the base upwards so it whacked him in the chin and nose, sending him reeling backwards. But he was like a bull dog and he came back, this time accompanied by the man who no longer had a knife.

She looked around and saw the light switch, reminding her of the over head lights. Pelting to the sofa she jumped on it and launched herself at the two wires. They only just managed to support her weight and she clung on, swinging herself so that as the two men ran at her she raised her legs and kicked them both at the same time before she swung back and accidently kicked another one that had been coming at her from behind.

With the men who had been coming at her unconscious or writhing on the floor in agony she started her swinging again.

Draco and Cedric were on their feet now, kicking and punching.

Amy swung herself forwards again before letting go and sailing neatly on to Cedric's back. She wrapped her legs tightly around his torso to stop herself falling off and covered his eyes with one arm.

"GET ME A LOG!" she screamed at Draco. He chucked her one that she had lobbed at someone earlier a chucked it to her as Cedric's hands pulled forcefully at her arm. With one well placed blow, she knocked him unconscious and he landed on top of her as he fell making her groan with his weight and the hard impact.

Draco hauled him off her and pulled her up. The two scrutinized each other quickly.

He had a cut on the edge of his forehead that blood was running freely from. He had a nose bleed and a black eye and she suspected several bruises on his body.

She however wasn't harmed at all. Apart from her arm being slightly red when Cedric had tried to pull it off his eyes she didn't have a scratch on her.

The two embraced and breathed in the other's scents. It was of course at this time that the police decided to arrive.

"GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR!" yelled the first police man, his asp in hand.

"Uncle Richard!" said Amy brightly before bouncing over to hug him as the second on entered. "And Sergeant Stone!" she hugged him too.

"Amy! Love I- what-"

"This is my boyfriend Draco and we had a bit of erm...bother with a jealous ex-boyfriend- that's him over there- and he brought a few of his friends along to help him. I just used all the self defence methods you taught me and used what was around me. Just like you said!"

The two men looked around astounded. "You did all this by yourself?!"

"Of course not! Draco was dealing with Diggory and he distracted them so that I could-"

"She basically did it all herself! You should've seen her it was amazing! She even helped me with Diggory! She was like a blur she was moving so fast! She used that lamp stand, logs, the light wires! She even used a book!!"

"Well I'm proud of you Amy! But you two will still have to come to the station and make statements.

Draco acted as though he knew what that meant.

"Stone. Call for backup, and ambulances. "You two need to get checked over as well."

"I'm fine!" a bit tired but..."

"I'm fine too" came Draco, dread filling him at the thought of muggle healers.

"That cut on your head-"

"Don't worry uncle, his mums a nurse. We'll go stay there for tonight" she said with a confident smile.

Hours later the exhausted couple finished their statements. They had cleaned up in the station bathrooms and the adrenaline had worn off and now they felt so fatigued they couldn't even be bothered to go home nor to Draco's so Uncle Richard got Sergeant Stone to cover for him while he took the pair to his house.

They woke up only a few hours later while Uncle Richard was still at work.

Draco pulled Amy into his chest. "Was that man your Uncle?"

"Mmm" she replied, only just waking up. "God Father. Oh and he doesn't know about magic".

"I still can't believe all you did last night! Who'd have thought it?" he chuckled lightly, "little Amy knocking out five fully grown men!"He pondered a moment. "Why were you so amazing then, but at Hogwarts you couldn't stop Diggory?"

"Well..." she yawned " when it was at Hogwarts, he'd always take me by surprise, he'd grab me and start straight away but today, I had a good two or three minutes to think and look around and plan what I was going to do and use yesterday."

"You're so amazing! I'm so lucky to have you...Amy...I..." he gently pulled her up into a sitting position much to her protest and got off the bed, kneeling on the floor.

"Amy, will you marry me?" he asked sincerely, the sun shining over him, making his skin almost sparkle.

And even though he had a black eye, several bruises on his body and looked a bit dishevelled, it was the happiest moment of her life as she screamed "YES" and flung herself at him, knocking them both to the floor in her eagerness.

The End

A/N : Well I hope you liked it!

I realise I should've done this at the beginning now but I don't own any of the characters, except Amy, Sergeant Stone, Uncle Richard, Amy's parents and Callum Barker and...I think that's it.

Please R&R because I quite like ready good comments! So please review nicely if you decide to.

Songs Mentioned -

Can't Help But Wait - Trey Songz

Halo - Béyonce

If She Knew - Lemar

Take Me Back - Tinchy Stryder & Taio Cruz

"Bad To Di Bone" – Brick & Lace

"Crush" – David Archuleta

Singin' In The Rain- Mint Royale


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